Surfboard protector

ABSTRACT

Partial covers, made of flexible material such as rubber, are respectively attached to the nose, rails and tail of a surfboard so that the partial covers protect respectively the nose, rails and tail of the surfboard from damage. The partial covers for the rails are forced on manually and nonadhesively in the direction of an opening thereof. The partial covers for the nose and the tail may be forced on also manually and nonadhesively in the direction of openings therein. However, with or without such openings, the partial covers for the nose and the tail may each have a belt so that each belt fastens the partial covers to the nose and the tail respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a surfboard protector whichis a partial cover protecting a surfboard from damage and particularlyto a partial cover or partial covers protecting respectively the nose,rails or tail along the perimeter of a surfboard from damage.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In a conventional surfboard, no cover is employed when it is in use forsurfing on a wave. Therefore, the nose, rails and tail can easily getdamaged when they collide with a rock or sand. The nose and tail mayalso hurt a surfer or other people when the surfer has been swallowed upby a big wave. Moreover, the nose and tail may also bump people when asurfboard is brought into a public place. The rails of a surfboard canalso get damaged when the surfboard is fastened with a rope onto acarrier on the roof of a car. The upper face of a surfboard is generallywaxed and the bottom face of the surfboard should not be waxed.Therefore, when surfboards are put one on another, the wax on the upperface of a surfboard is stuck on the bottom face of another surfboard.Surfboards with some type of tails such as a pintail can easily fall offwhen the surfboards are stood on their tails.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to partial covers made of flexiblematerial, such as rubber, being respectively attached to the nose, railsor tail of a surfboard so that the partial covers protect respectivelythe nose, rails or tail of the surfboard from damage.

The partial covers for the rails are forced on the rails manually andnonadhesively in the direction of openings provided in the coversthemselves. The partial cover for the nose or the tail may be forced onthe tail manually and nonadhesively in the direction of the openingprovided in the cover itself. However, with or without such openings,the partial covers for the nose and the tail may have belts so that thebelts fasten the partial covers to the nose or the tail respectively.

It is an object of the present invention to provide partial covers forprotecting the nose, rails and/or tail of a surfboard from damage.

It is another object of the present invention to provide partial coversfor protecting the nose, rails and/or tail of a surfboard from damagewhen it is in use at sea.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide partialcovers for protecting people from injury by the nose or tail of asurfboard.

Another object of the present invention is to provide partial covers forprotecting people from injury when the surfboard is in use at sea.

Furthermore, it is another object of the present invention to providepartial covers for protecting the nose, rails and/or tail of a surfboardwhen it is carried.

Still further, it is another object of the present invention to providepartial covers for preventing the upper face of one surfboard fromsticking wax onto the bottom face of another surfboard when they are putone on another.

The various features which characterize the present invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantage, and specific objects attained by its use,reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which there is illustrated and described a preferredembodiment of the invention. It should be understood that any changewithin the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantagesthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a surfboard.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a surfboard with protectors of oneembodiment of the present invention attached thereto.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a protector for the nose of a surfboard.FIG. 3a is a top plan view thereof, FIG. 3b is a rear view showing theinterior thereof, and FIG. 3c is a left side view thereof.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a protector for the rails of thesurfboard. FIG. 4a is a top plan view thereof, FIG. 4b is a side viewthereof, FIG. 4c is a rear view thereof, and FIG. 4d is a perspectiveview thereof.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a protector for the tail of the surfboard.FIG. 5a is a top plan view thereof, FIG. 5b is a left side view thereof,and FIG. 5c is a rear view showing the interior thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described byway of example, by reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention comprises a surfboard protector, which is apartial cover or has partial covers for protecting the nose, railsand/or tail of surfboard from damage. The covers, being made of flexiblematerial such as rubber, are respectively form-fitted to the shape ofthe nose, rails or tail of the surfboard. The covers are forced onmanually and nonadhesively in the direction of the openings in thepartial covers which respectively fit the nose, rails or tail of thesurfboard.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference tothe drawings thereof as follows.

FIG. 1 shows a surfboard 1, which has a nose 2, rails 3, tail 4 and deck5. As shown in FIG. 2, partial covers or protectors 100 are attached tothe surfboard 1. A nose cover 110 is used either as a part of a set ofsurfboard protectors 100 or as an independent surfboard protector byitself.

The nose cover 110 for the surfboard is shown in detail in FIGS. 3a, 3band 3c. The nose cover 110 comprises an upper part 111, bottom part 112,side part 113 and openings 114. A concavity 115 is illustrated in thetop plan view of FIG. 3a. The concavity 115 forms wings 116 which areeasy to open widely so that the nose 2 of a surfboard 1 can be easilyinserted into openings 114 of the nose cover 110 illustrated in the rearview of FIG. 3b. The openings 114 are shaped such that the nose cover110, fits the shape of the nose 2. The top part 117 of the nose cover110 protects the top part of the nose 2 so that the top part 117 willprotect people from injury by the top part of the nose 2 especially whena surfboard 1 is in use in the sea.

The nose cover 110 may have a pair of belt holders 118 integrally fixedtoward the ends of the wings 116. The belt holders 118 have belt holes119 respectively so that a belt can be held through the belt holes 119with the belt holders 118 connected to the wings 116. The belt (notshown) will fasten the wings 116 to the nose 2 tightly when the belt isfastened on the wings 116 of the nose 2.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a rail cover 120, which can be used as apair or pairs as illustrated in FIG. 2. The rail cover 120 can be usedeither as a part of a set of the surfboard protectors 100 or as anindependent surfboard protector 110 by itself, too.

The rail cover 120 comprises the upper part 121, bottom part 122, sidepart 123, and opening 124. The upper part 121 and the bottom part 122are forced manually and nonadhesively in the direction of the opening124. Since the rail cover 120 is itself made of rubber, the upper part121 and the bottom part 122 close the opening 124 as illustrated in FIG.4d when the rail cover 120 does not cover the rail 3. Therefore, theupper part 121 and the bottom part 122 are opened when the rail cover120 protects the rail 3. Consequently, the upper part 121 and the bottompart 122 will tightly pinch the rail 3 when the rail 3 has been insertedin the opening 124. Thus, the rail cover 120 will not come off the rail3 even if the surfboard 1 is used in a rough sea.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a tail cover 130 which can be usedeither as a part of a set of the surfboard protectors 100 or as anindependent surfboard protector, too.

The partial cover or tail protector 130 comprises upper part 131, bottompart 132, side part 133 and opening 134. A concavity 135 forms wings 136and makes the wings 136 easy to open so that the tail 4 can be easilyinserted into the opening 134 of the tail cover 130 illustrated in therear view of FIG. 5c. The opening 134 is shaped such that it covers thetail 4. An end 137 of the tail cover 130 is flat. Therefore, the tailcover 130 may be attached to a standing surfboard 1 when the surfboard 1is leaned against a wall.

Since there are many kinds of tails such as round, square, swallow,pintail, and so on, the tail cover 130 may be shaped so that each tailcover exclusively fits to each different kind of tail respectively.However, the tail cover 130 may be shaped so that one tail coverprotects all kinds of tails, so that manufacturing costs can be reduced.

The tail cover 130 may have a pair of belt holders 138 arranged towardthe end of the wings 136. The belt holders 138 have belt holes 139respectively so that a belt (not shown) can be threaded through the beltholes 139 in the belt holders 138 connected to the wings 136. The beltwill fasten the wings 136 to the tail 4 tightly when the belt isfastened on the wings 136 of the tail cover 130.

I claim:
 1. A protector for preventing damage to a surfboard,comprising:a plurality of separate partial covers being spaced along aperimeter of the surfboard and each of the separate partial covers beingprovided with an opening therein; said plurality of separate partialcovers being made of flexible material and having each of the openingsforcibly form-fitted manually and nonadhesively over a nose, and a tailon the perimeter of the surfboard; each of said separate partial coversforcibly form-fitted to the nose and the tail having a concavity whichforms wing means for easily opening widely the separate partial coversfor the nose and the tail so that said nose and said tail may be easilyinserted into each of the openings therefor; and belt holders beingintegrally fixed near ends of the wing means for the nose and the tailand having belt holes therein.